In 1999, UNESCO declared March 21st as World Poetry Day. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world. This year, Shahrazad participated in the celebration of the day at Stavanger Library and Cultural Center, and throughout Stavanger's city centre.
Poems by ICORN writers Abu Al Teman , Mansur Rajih, and Irakli Kakabadze, as well as by Norwegian poets Finn Øglænd og Anne Karin Torheim blasted from the sound system of a restored 1957 Opel Olympia, while postcards with poems by Chenjerai Hove were handed out to people passing by.
At the library, all visitors who checked out poetry books were given a copy of De stemmeløses røst (The Voice of the Voiceless). This book contains stories about, and texts written by ICORN writers who have lived in Norway over the last 10 years. It was published by Norwegian PEN and the Norwegian Publishers Association, and its introduction was written by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre.
